highly significantp < 0.01
In contrast, miR-202-5p expression in TCs showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing from pre-hierarchical follicles 4–6 mm and 8–10 mm, to hierarchical follicles F5, F2–4, and F1, and, apart from the highly significant difference in changes observed between 8 and 10 mm pre-hierarchical follicles and F5 hierarchical follicles ( p < 0.01), changes at other stages did not show a significant differences ( p > 0.05) ( Figure 1 D).